A Leap Forward Into Terror
by Lexarius
Summary: Sam Beckett leaps into the future, to find that the souls of three teenage pilots, and the future existence of Humanity are on his hands. (Abandoned)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Darkness.  
A feeling of emptyness.  
A bright blue light envolving him, fading slowly.

Disorientation.

"Where am I now?", he asks himself. Behind him, he hears a well known voice. "It looks like a difficult situation. What do we do?"

Relieved at hearing a familiar voice, he turns around, saying "How did you find me so fast?" and then realized that the man was not who he had expected; but a tall, thin man, with grey hair and worried face. The answer comes.

"You called me to your office, Commander."

Still disoriented, he looks for a reflective surface, finding a severe face, with an Abraham Lincoln-like beard, and orange tinted shades.

The man keeps talking. "Captain Katsuragi is on her way to pick up your son at the train station. Let´s hope the Angel won´t attack before they arrive; the Army is eager to attack with their whole arsenal."

He turns towards the monitor, there´s a tactical map on it, plus images of a titanic monster. It looks like a parody of a man, its face is like a bird mask.

Sam Beckett whispers... "Oh, boy..."

 **Author notes:**

The idea for this story came to me when I realized that Jesse Conde, a well known voice actor, who has dubbed a lot of characters, played both Al Calavicci in Quantum Leap; and Professor Fujutsuki in Evangelion; for the LatinAmerican dubs.

My original notes were in spanish, taking elements from both dubs. I wanted to keep this aspect of the story in my fic.

So, please, just for this story; I ask you to pretend that Dean Stockwell dubbed Fujutsuki in Evangelion.


	2. The Third Child Arrives, Part One

"Theorising that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better.

His only guide on this journey was Al, an observer from his own time, who appeared in the form of a hologram that only Sam could see and hear.

And so, Dr. Beckett found himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home...

...but instead, this time Dr. Beckett is trapped in a dark future, facing the possible extinction of Humanity when Third Impact strikes."

 _ **The Third Child Arrives, Part One**_

Trying to assimilate the situation, Sam concentrated in the images on the screen. Not only he had leaped once more into an unknown situation, if the images on the screen weren´t from a science-fiction movie, the world had definitely gone mad in only... dates, dates... ah, 2015? 16 years after his first leap. Suddenly, he realized , that the text was in japanese. Luckily it was one of the languages he knew, but... what was he doing in Japan? And even more curiously, in the future?

Suddenly, he noticed a scrolling text in the bottom of his screen. "Good morning, Dr. Beckett." The text was in English! Surrepticiously, Sam looked at the other man. He wasn´t paying attention to him, but to the screen that occupied the other wall of the... office. It was a huge room, dark, evidently made to intimidate. He looked his own monitor again, and realized both screens showed the same image, except for the scrolling text on his own screen. The text had changed. "We don´t have much time, Dr. Beckett. Soon the other MAGI will need my processing power for the incoming battle. Currently, my nomenclature is Casper, but you knew me better by another name: Ziggy."

Sam almost choked.

"This is what you need to know for the moment, Dr. Beckett" the text scrolled on. "You have leaped into the body of Gendo Ikari, Commander of NERV, an organization dedicated to protect Earth from the attack of aliens, code-named ´Angels´. The creature on screen has been named ´Sachiel´, and is coming to this city, Tokyo-3, to destroy it and cause a global catastrophe, ´Third Impact´. I will give you more information about all this later. The man beside you is Professor Kozo Fujutsuki, Sub-Commander of this base. He is Gendo Ikari´s mentor, right hand man, and confident . Don´t worry about talking to him at lenght. Ikari is very dry in his dealings with people, especially when he has something to think about."

Sam nodded discreetly, surely Ziggy was watching him through the CCTV.

"NERV´s Chief of Operations, Captain Misato Katsuragi, is on her way to pick up Gendo Ikari´s son, and bring him to this base." Two pictures appeared on screen, a woman about 30 years old, who looked like a model; and a teenager, about 14 or 15 years old, skinny and melancholic. "According to my calculations, the younger Ikari is the key piece to stop Third Impact. Back to the current crisis, conventional weapons are absolutely useless against Angels, including nuclear weapons." Sam´s blood went cold, as he calculated Sachiel´s size, comparing him (it?) with man-made objects he walked by or destroyed.

"The only effective weapon against Angels are the Evangelion Units," three pictures appeared on screen, three robots that looked like something from the old japanese cartoons he watched as a child, but more stylized in aspect, and somehow, hostile looking. "Despite their looks, Evangelions are not robots, Dr. Beckett, I´ll explain their exact nature later." One of the pictures was selected, the robot has something that looked like a huge eye in the center of its face. "This is Unit-00, its assigned pilot is Rei Ayanami." A picture of a teenage girl appeared, she was very pale, with scarlet eyes and blue hair. "Ayanami was seriously injured during Unit-00´s activation test; she´s recovering, but she is in no way apt for any combat operations." Sam´s brow furrowed, seeing how easy it was for NERV to put children in danger. Seemingly, Ziggy noticed the gesture, as she added, "Full details later, Dr. Beckett, Evangelions can only be piloted by individuals born after the year 2001, and even so, potential pilots are rare." Both pictures closed. Replaced by two others; a purple robot, with some kind of horn or antennae on his forehead, and a new picture of Shinji Ikari. "The younger Ikari is the assigned pilot of Unit-01. He has been subjected to a regime of psychological isolation, to break his will and ease his manipulation to realize the plans traced by Gendo Ikari and a group of men who direct NERV from the shadows, a cabal named SEELE."

Sam closed his fists in anger. It was already bad enough to send children to fight monsters, but mental torture? He had leaped into a lair of monsters. He looked surreptitiously at Fujutsuki. The man looked... worried? anguished? He had to learn more about him.

Ziggy continued, "If Shinji is sento to battle in his current state, he will lose control of the Evangelion Unit, causing great damage to Tokyo-3, " Sam nodded. "Most of the population is already in emergency refuges, but a few civilians remain, among them Toji and Sakura Suzuhara." The pictures were replaced by one of an athletic kid, about 15 years old, and a girl about 8 years old.

"In his current mental state, Shinji is fearful, low in self-esteem, and very shy; at the same time, he hates his father for having abandoned him at four years of age, and longs for his approval. Gendo had planned to force him to pilot, by means of psychological pressure, using Rei Ayanami´s condition to blackmail him."

Sam thought that not only he had leaped into a lair of monsters, he himself was the monster in charge! He started to make plans.

"The staff directly under Gendo Ikari," Ziggy continued, "occupies the so-called ´Central Dogma´, the operational bridge on this base. " A series of pictures appeard, each with name and post. Sam commited each to memory. "Nominally, Captain Katsuragi is on charge of combat ops, but you can override her orders or assign extra resources."

Sam had decided on a course of action. He raised an eyebrow to ask Ziggy if there was any more info he needed at the moment. The pictures closed, and the screen showed the same image Fujutsuki was watching. The text ended with a simple "Good luck, Dr. Beckett."


	3. The Third Child Arrives, Part Two

_**The Third Child Arrives, Part Two**_

Meanwhile, the Angel Sachiel walked unhurried towards Tokyo-3, and the army shot at it with more eagerness than effects.

Captain Katsuragi had picked up Shinji, and both were on their way to the Geo-Front. They would take a while to arrive, so Sam had some time to prepare. Letting Fujutsuki walk in front, they arrived to Central Dogma, and he took the only seat left. He felt the strange impulse to steeple his fingers in front of his face, hiding his mouth. Muscle memory, no doubt; he followed the impulse.

He took time to watch the useless salvoes of all kinds of missiles, as Fujutsuki added some comments. He kept silence, answering with a few grunts of agreement. It was hard to reign in his surprise, the power of a N2 Mine was almost inimaginable. And also useless, as Sachiel started to regenerate the damage even before the smoke cleared.

Finally, the generals conceded defeat, yielding to NERV. They didn´t waste time to leave Central Dogma. They had nothing else to do there, and, if Sachiel kept to his current course, NERV would be an incredibly dangerous place to be at.

"The UN forces are spent. What will you do, Sir?" It was weird, Professor Fujutsuki´s voice was almost like Al Calavicci´s, his friend and partner in scores of adventures through time. He put the thought away, this time he had to act without his guidance.

"We´ll activate Unit-01."

"Activate it? But we don´t have a pilot, Sir!"

"One is on his way. Send somebody to escort Captain Katsuragi an her companion to Unit-01´s cage. We will wait for them there. And I want a CCTV monitor, connected to the feed from Rei´s hospital room."

"Yes, Sir." Fujutsuki had no idea of what his former pupil was planning, but he was sure it wouldn´t be nice.

The lights went on, and a scared Shinji looked at the metallic face of a purple giant, submerged in a strange liquid. He, Misato Katsuragi and Doctor Ritsuko Akagi stood on a metalic catwalk.

From a raised platform, Sam watched them argue. He didn´t like to spy, but he needed to know more about the people around him. Ziggy´s info-dump was barely enough to know names, faces, and posts. Eventually, he decided to answer one of Shinji´s questions, while the platform decended. This was something he had to do face to face, judging from Shinji´s agitated state, there was no love lost between father and son.

"My father made this?"

"Indeed. It´s been a long time, Shinji." The boy seemed to close himself in a shell. Sam turned to Captain Katsuragi. "We have to attack."

The answer came immediately. "Attack? But Unit-00 is frozen! ...Wait a minute! Are you thinking on using Unit-01!"

Doctor Akagi intervened. "We have no other choice."

"We have no pilot, Doctor!"

"One has just arrived." Ritsuko Akagi looked at Shinji.

xxxx

They argued while the platform descended, Akagi for and Katsuragi against Shinji piloting the purple giant. There were mentions of Rei Ayanami, the time it had taken for her to synchronize with Unit-00, and her current condition.

Finally, the platform arrived to the lower level; Sam walked slowly towards Shinji, who seemed to be about to cry; screaming to his father about the years of abandonement, and the sudden call to pilot a monstruous robot. Sam felt a bump at his throat. He took off the shades. Nobody, except for one, had ever seen the boss directly to his eyes. There was a complete silence. When Sam was next to Shinji, he dropped to a knee, looked him to the eyes, and put his hands on the boy´s shoulders. A gesture Shinji had longed for for almost a decade.

"I sent you away to protect you. It was a mistake." Shinji stared at Sam´s eyes. He had no words. "I cannot blame you for hating me, and if you chose to go, I´ll understand. But there are some things you have to know before."

Shinji didn´t know what to do. His father always had treated him coldly; but this time, there was something in his eyes... a sincerity and warmth he had never seen.

At a signal from Sam, a couple of techs wheeled a monitor, and connected it to the CCTV. An image appeared, it was a young girl, extremely pale, wrapped in bandages, lying on a hospital bed. "She is Rei Ayanami, the pilot of Unit-00. She was gravely injured a little while ago." Shinji stared at the screen, moved, it was clear the girl was in pain. "If I could take her place, I would. But I can´t, only a few persons can synchronize, control an Evangelion Unit. Right now, you are the onle one who has any chance to do it. I wish I had brought you here months ago, to give you time to learn if you decided to take the risk. Rei would not last five seconds out there."

Shinji was a whirwind of emotions, anger, doubt, compassion, fear, hope, all spinning in his mind. He had never seen his father like this. He looked at Misato, who nodded softly.

The moment was interrupted by a tremendous shock. Instinctively, everybody looked up.

"We have little time, son. The monster is coming here; if it´s not stopped, we´re going to die." Shinji swallowed, still undecided. "You won´t be alone, we will guide you. Doctor Akagi can show you what to do to pilot the Evangelion, and Captain Katsuragi can guide you in combat.

Shinji still doubted, looking deep into his father´s eyes, looking for something to help him chose. A second hit, stronger than the previous one, almost made them fall. Under the helpless eyes of the witnesses, several lamps fell from the ceiling, falling over Sam and Shinji.

Sam reacted instantly, pushing Shinji out of the way. A huge hand emerged from the artificial lake, protecting Shinji. Sam wasn´t so lucky, a lamp hit him on the legs. Misato, Ritsuko and several techs ran to help their boss. Sam was almost unconscious from the pain, maybe he had a broken bone.

Shinji decided.

Shinji ground his teeth for a moment, and exclaimed impulsively, "I´ll do it! I´ll pilot that thing!"

Finally, the techs had freed Sam from the heavy lamp. The movement made him feel another wave of pain; for a moment, black dots danced in front of his eyes, while Dr. Akagi checked him quickly. "Definitively it´s a fracture, help me to put a splint on him."

Sam grabbed Ritsuko´s arm, looking at Shinji. "W-wait a moment, Captain Katsuragi, how long will it take for the Angel to enter?"

Misato raised a hand, calling Central Dogma. She repeated the question to Maya. A few seconds later, she answered, "It will take it several hours to break through the armor. It got lucky and hit a weak point, but it won´t fit through it. Maya calculates between one and two hours if it tries to break through one of the launch tubes. Makoto is using everything he can to block the crack on the Geo-Front´s ceiling. "

"Good, let´s put that time to good use. Doctor Akagi, show Shinji the procedure. Captain, do we have anything to distract the Angel?"

"We could launch several empty platforms, it may think they are potential threats."

"Do it, let´s see what it does. It doesn´t seem to have long range attacks, that can be an advantage for us. Shinji!"

"F-father?"

"You have to be brave, but I don´t want you to take any innecessary risks. Try to get that thing out of the city if you can."

"Yes, I understand."

The techs returned, with a stretcher and a first-aid kit. Ritsuko got what she needed out, and looked into Sam´s eyes. "Commander Ikari, I´m goint to put the splint on now. I don´t have enough pain-killers, so it will hurt." She put a piece of leather between Sam´s teeth.

Sam nodded, his forehead was covered with sweat. He tried to stay conscious, but darkness swallowed him.

Sam opened his eyes, "Another unfamiliar ceiling," he thought, "I have lost count of how many I have seen." He was dizzy, and his mouth felt like cotton. He was lying on a hospital bed, with a leg on a pillow; his ankle and part of his left foot were set in plaster.

"Great, I can´t walk; and I still have to cancel the Apocalypse."

He looked around. On the little table along the bed were a laptop, slimmer than the models he remembered, and a set of earbuds. He pulled at the table, and got as confortable as possible. He opened the laptop, wondering what could be the password. The screen lighted on immediately, with an image of the NERV logo, but insted of the motto "God´s in His Heaven. All is Right with the World." It read "Please, Dr. Becket, put the earbuds on."

Sam obeyed, the screen started to show scenes from the battle, while a beautiful female voice greeted him. "Good night, Doctor Beckett." It was the unmistakable voice of Ziggy! He wasn´t sure who had programmed it, but it was the kind of voice he would like to hear every morning. "As you can see, Shinji succeded. Sachiel was destroyed with minimal colateral damage to the city, the Suzuhara siblings had time to reach a safe place, and Shinji himself only suffered very minor injuries, he will recover completely in a couple of days. His emotional state is much better. He is currently in observation in another room, and he has expressed desire to see his father as son as possible."

Sam sighed with relief. For a moment, he allowed himself the luxury of being glad. But a black cloud showed up in his thoughts. Quickly, he wrote, "What about SEELE?"

The voice answered, "Professor Fujutsuki informed the Comitee. The report was considered satisfactory, with some reserves. SEELE doesn´t aprove your aparent emotional weakness about Shinji. I suggest you establish a little distance, for the sake of appearances."

Before continuing, the door opened. Sam closed the laptop, taking the earbuds off. It was Dr. Akagi, checking the tablet on her hands. She closed the door, checked the blinds, and sat on the bed with a seductive look on her face. "Well, you can´t stop working for a minute, do you?" She pushed the table away, and kissed Sam with passion. "I have good news for you, your fracture is not grave, and you will be on your feet very soon. I will release you tomorrow noon. Take a couple of days at least."

She took her tablet back, and before opening the door, she blew him a kiss, winking.

When the door closed, Sam whispered, incredulous, "...Oooh, boy..."


	4. New Faces, New Places, Part One

_**New Faces, New Places, Part One**_

Once he was alone again, Sam opened the laptop and put the earbuds on. Ziggy´s voice seemed strangely... sad.

"Dr. Beckett, we have a few hours now. I will inform you as best I can."

"Ziggy, where´s Al? What happened to Project Quantum Leap?"

The answer took a while.

"I am not completely sure. I have been able to reconstruct part of the events, but my own memory is, as Admiral Calavicci would say, ´swiss cheese´. I have no direct record of events after a certain point."

"Tell me what you can." Sam wrote, worried.

Archive images were shown on screen, while Ziggy talked. "September 13, year 2000. A cataclismic explosion destroyed the Antarctic ice. The South hemisphere was almost destroyed by the resulting tsunami or the water´s rising level, or the wars that came later. The planetary axis changed its angle, resulting in a drastic change of the weather patterns. At this point, PQL had lost track of you, Doctor Beckett, and there was little hope to find you again, your body was in a deep coma."

Knowing Al´s loyalty, surely he had been terribly worried.

Ziggy continued. "Just before Second Impact, there was a leap. We managed to identify the person, and his probable place and time of origin, but we couldn´t contact you."

"Gendo Ikari?"

"Correct, Doctor Beckett. While we were trying to locate you, Second Impact hit. My systems were overloaded, I don´t remember anything after that, until my hardware was reactivated as part of the MAGI system, a triunvirate of computers that manage this NERV base and the surrounding city, Tokyo-3."

Sam nodded.

"I have been an observer through the events that ended in Third Impact. This caused the complete elimination of mankind as independent entities." The images on screen showed a series of persons, including NERV staff, dissolving into an orange fluid. "At the end, there were only three entities left. Young Ikari, an anomalous and titanic version of Rei Ayanami/Lilith, and the third Evangelion pilot; Asuka Langley Soryu, the Second Child, assigned to Unit-02. She will arrive to Tokyo-3 in a few months. " Sam watched the images, horryfied.

"This result was contrary to my programming, and to your own mission, Doctor Beckett. I am not sure of when I acquired the capacity, but I leapt back in time, to a point just after my reactivation as part of the MAGI system. I must conclude I am no longer an artificial inteligence only, as only a sentient mind has been able to leap through time. I admit my statistical samples are limited to you, Doctor Beckett, Admiral Calavicci, the people you have leaped to, and the counterparts to you and Admiral Calavicci."

After a long pause, Ziggy continued "I can´t confirm or refute it, but I do believe I have either acquired or developed a soul of sorts."

"I am in contact with my counterpart in the future, although it lacks any iniciative or personality as you would understand them, it is useful for complex calculations that don´t require creativity. Since my leap, I have waited for your arrival to this time and place. I myself cannot influence events directly, as I´m limited to places with wireless communications or computer networks the MAGI can access."

"Finally, you arrived yesterday. You know the events since then."

"I have no access to events that happened while I was offline, beyond what I can retrieve from other computer systems; however, it is clear that Project Quantum Leap was cancelled and the instalations dismantled. However, there are good news; I have been able to locate your closest collaborators." Sam straightened on the bed. "Admiral Calavicci went back to the Navy, now controlled by the UN, and he is the supreme Commander if the Pacific Fleet. Techs Gooshie, Tina, and Sammy Jo are working in the Second Brach of NERV, in Nevada. I have been unable to find any mention or image of Doctor Samuel Beckett after Second Impact." Sam felt sick and relieved at the same time. The images of both Second and Third Impact had been a shock, but the knowledge his friends had survived was encouraging.

"Do you know what will happen? In detail, I mean."

"I know part of the sequence of events that will result in Third Impact. I don´t know all the details, as some events were not registered, or happened outside the range of NERV´s cameras and sensors. Plus my own swiss cheese memory."

"We can´t have everything, Ziggy. We´ll have to do our best and hope."

The night promised to be a very long one.

At 8:27 am of the next day, Sam awoke. For a moment, he thought that the previous day had been a weird dream, until the pain on his left foot confirmed it had been real. The Angel attack, the titanic cyborg, a future where the whole human race had been reduced to an orange sea, and two pathetic, hopeless survivors.

He rubbed his face, and noticed the strange scars he had on the palms; idly, he wondered if they meant that he was now able to find the Ark of the Covenant. Probably not. He would be missing the other side of the medallion.

He wasn´t feeling any rested, and he would have liked nothing better than wrapping himself in the sheets and sleep until spring. But that wasn´t possible anymore, Second Impact had left behind an endless sumer. Well, he couldn´t fix that, a problem he didn´t have to worry about.

He opened the laptop again, putting the earbuds on. "Good morning, Doctor Beckett. I took the liberty of sending a message on your behalf, obeying Doctor Akagi´s instructions. You are on sick leave today and tomorrow." After a pause, Ziggy continued. "Shinji is already up, with Captain Katsuragi, and he wants to speak with you."

´Well,´ Sam thought, ´here we go.´

"Thanks, Ziggy," he wrote, and closed the laptop. On the table was a small remote control, with only one button. Sam pressed it, and a few moments later, a young nurse entered the room. "Commander, good morning. Do you wish to have your breakfast? Dr. Akagi left instructions for you to take your medicines after eating."

"Um, yes, thank you. Could you tell me about another patient? His name is Shinji Ikari."

"Your son? He´s fine, he only has some sympathic burns, nothing serious, they are more psychosomathic than real. He will feel a little sunburned for today, but will be as new by tomorrow. He asked to see you when they brought him in, do you want me to send for him?"

"Yes, and Captain Katsuragi too, if she´s here. I want to talk to her." Remembering Ziggy´s comments about Gendo Ikari´s behaviour, he left it at that.

A little while later, Captain Katsuragi entered the room, pushing a wheel chair, occupied by a smiling and reddish Shinji Ikari. "Really, Misato. I can walk by myself!"

"Hospital rules, Shinji. Only until they release you officially."

"Fine, but stay within the speed limits." Misato huffed, but she swallowed her response as she realized she was in the presence of her superior officer.

Sam could not contain a smile, it seemed like Shinji was already coming out of his shell. "Captain Katsuragi, Shinji; I have seen the recordings from yesterday´s battle, and I must say I´m impressed. And very proud of both of you. You did great."

Shinji went even redder, he wasn´t used to any praise. Misato straightened up, "Thank you, Sir."

"I want a complete and very detailed analysis of the battle, the Angel´s capabilities, and how to face any similar situations in the future. I´m sure you already have some suggestions."

"Urm... yes, Sir. The attack revealed some weak points we can reinforce immediately."

"Good. I leave it in your hands, Captain. I will be absent today and tomorrow. Use that time to make your inform, we shall go over it when I return." Misato nodded. "Have you eaten yet? I can ask for something extra." Shini nodded enthusiastically, Misato seemed a bit surprised, but accepted the invitation.

´For hospital food, this is not bad at all,´ Sam thought, finishing his second piece of toast with strawberry jam. The conversation flowed easily, although everybody kept to irrelevant subjects. Sam was already getting a very good impression of the young captain. A plan started to form in his head. ´Well,´ he thought, "let´s see if I´m right." He pushed the table away.

"I think it´s time to talk about serious bussiness." Shinji and Misato paid attention. "Shinji, have you decided if you want to stay as an Evangelion pilot? You did a great work yesterday, especially for a first time."

The boy thought about it for a moment. "Yes, Father. At least until another pilot arrives. On the way here, we saw Ayanami being wheeled to another room on a stretcher. I cannot leave her alone, like that." Shinji didn´t mention that he had waved shyly at her.

Misato intervened. "Finding another pilot could take months, potential pilots are few and might be found in places far away from here. We were very lucky to find you on time. The Second Child is in Germany, and we don´t know if she can even synchronize with Unit-01. Her training and synchronization with Unit-02 are very good, but bringing an Evangelion from Europe will take time."

"Good, then it´s decided. I´ll get you an apartment here in the Geo-Front. Don´t put that face, son, I´d rather have you with me, but it´s not possible because of security reasons." For a moment, Shinji looked melancholic again, but the explanation seemed to satisfy him.

"Er, Sir?" Misato said, "The Geo-Front is a bit far from school, and I have a free room in my apartment. Shinji could be my room-mate."

Sam smiled inside. Without showing his approval of the captain´s idea, he pretended to hesitate for a moment. "Shinji? What do you say?"

"I don´t want to be a bother..."

"Not at all!" Misato interrupted. "Both of us could use some company."

Shini hesitated for a moment longer, but accepted.

Sam smiled. "Of course, you will get a monthly stipend. A part will be deposited in a fund for your education, another will be administered by Captain Katsuragi for as long as you both live at the same place, and the rest witll be deposited weekly on a debit card for your personal expenses."

Shinji´s face lit up, he had never had any personal money. Saving up for his chello had taken a long time, doing little jobs for his neighbours.

Right then, the nurse came back, pushing a little wheeled table, full of little bottles and medical equipment. "I´m sorry, visiting time is up. Time for your medicines, Commander."

"By your leave, Commander."

"I´ll see you later, Father."

"See you, son. Take care. Captain, I expect your report."

Both went out, smiling.

Before the nurse started, Misato opened the door again.

"Sir? I apologize for the interruption. Shinji would like to visit Rei. To say hello and see how she is. What should I tell him?"

Sam looked at the nurse. "Do you know if Pilot Ayanami can have visitors?"

"Yes, she can, Commander. No more than five minutes, authorized by Doctor Akagi or yourself."

"I authorize it." He looked at Misato. "Captain, Rei is in a bad shape, don´t agitate her, and obey the instructions of the medical staff."

"Yes, Sir!" Misato almost ran back out. She had left Shinji by the lifts.

The nurse was about to start, but Sam stopped her, raising a hand, and waited for a few seconds, smiling. Just as he expected, Misato appeared again a few seconds later. "E-excuse me, which one is her room?"

"Third Level, Room 16. I´ll call the nurse in charge and an orderly will escort you." The nurse answered.

"Thanks! And sorry about the interruption." She closed the door carefully.

 _ **Author Notes:**_

I loved the premise of Quantum Leap, especially during the first seasons. It had clear rules, and they stuck to them. However, in later seasons, the rules changed in ways I really didn´t like. So, I will stick to the rules as laid out in Season One. Only Sam´s mind leaps, he exchanges bodies with the person he has leaped to. So, for the moment, he is stuck in Gendo Ikari´s body.

However, for this story to work, I have to ignore another rule, and put Sam in the middle of a big historic event.

And last, I haven´t forgotten about Donna, it´s just that I feel she got a very bad deal at the end of the series, and I kinda prefer to give her a happy ending; so, instead of marrying Sam, one of her previous relationships went better than Sam would have liked, and she was happily married before meeting Sam.

I also have plans for Al, he´s still around, and will visit Japan in a few months, story time.


	5. New Faces, New Places, Part Two

_**New Faces, New Places, Part Two**_

By the time Misato and Shinji arrived to Third Level, an orderly was already waiting for them, he gave them two visitor cards, and accompanied them to Rei´s room. On the way, he gave them the instructions for visiting the pilot.

The room was softly lighted, Rei Ayanami was resting peacefully, a metallic stand held an IV bag, conected to her left arm. She was still wrapped in bandages, but her color wasn´t the sickly gray it had been yesterday. She looked surprised, she expected doctors or nurses, maybe even Commander Ikari. She knew Captain Katsuragi, but the boy on the wheelchar was a complete stranger. With detached curiosity, she looked at him with the crimson eye that was not under wraps. She waited.

"Hello, Rei!" Misato greeted her happily. "You got a visitor."

"Uh, hello, Ayanami." The boy was red from head to toes, especially the ears. "My name is Shinji Ikari." Ikari? Yes, there was a certain likeness to the Commander, but he was disturbingly emotive. She realized she had lost track of some words. "Repeat that last thing."

"Uh? Ah, I was just saying that I am a pilot too, but a rookie. " Misato squeezed his shoulder, before he could mention yesterdays Angel attack. "Urm... I just wanted to see how you are and say hello."

That was unusual. No one spoke to her unless it was for NERV´s official matters, or school. She blinked twice, as she used to do whenever she found something she didn´t understand immediately. She looked for an answer. "I´m recovering satisfactorily." What else..? "...Hello..."

´Well, this is weird,´ Shinji thought. ´must be the medication.´

"Er... well, I was wondering if I could visit you tomorrow. You must be bored."

"Bored?" She inclined her head to a side.

"Sure," Shinji insisted. "You have nothing to do, not even a book or a game. Something to entertain you."

"Yes," Rei blinked again, she reached a conclusion."A visit would be... agreeable."

Impulsively, Shinji showed her a small object. "Take it, at least some music will help you not to be so bored. Normally, I use the earbuds, but I don´t know if you can put them on." He pushed a button, and they heard some soft notes from string instruments. "Is the volume OK?"

Rei nodded softly. It was indeed a beautiful sound, Shinji smiled. "Here you go. This button to go forward, this one to go back. When you want to turn it off, slide this switch. Use it for as long as you want, don´t worry about the batteries, they are new."

Rei took the SDAT and looked deeply into the boy´s eyes. Shinji´s ears were almost crimson. Strange. "...Thank you..."

Shinji had no idea what to say, he opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out. Misato intervened. "Well, we must go before they kick us out. Tomorrow afternoon I´ll bring Casanova here for a visit."

Rei felt a strange sensation, her mouth´s corners raised a fraction of a millimeter. "That would be nice." Meanwhile, Shinji had gotten an interesting purplish color. Now, he was indeed emiting sounds. He seemed to be choking.

Misato pulled the wheelchair, and both went out the room. "See you tomorrow!"

Shinji still looked the same, but he waved goodbye, nervously. The door closed behind them. Rei Closed hey eyes, allowing the music to surround her.

xxxx

Doctor Akagi visited Sam around 10:00 am, confirming his release at noon. To Sam´s relief, a nurse was around all the time, stiffling any try of intimacy from Rotsuko. Finally, out of excuses, Dr. Akagi left, back to Central Dogma, to check the data from yesterday, and to ponder exactly how it had been possible for Unit-01 to move, not only without a pilot, without power!

Professor Fujutsuki dropped by at 11:00. He looked exhausted, and just after arriving, he dropped into the chair the hospital had for long term visitor.

"I got wind of what you said to your son. I must say I´m surprised. I thought that after all this time, you would still treat him coldly."

Sam chose to play the "Mysterious villain" card, he put his elbows on the sliding table, and steepled his fingers in front of his face. It might have been better if he was in anything else but a hospital gown... "Do you disapprove, Professor?"

Fujutsuki raised a conciliatory hand. "Quite the contrary! I opposed that manipulation from the very beggining! I still think Yui would skin you if she knew how you have treated Shinji." He paused, putting his elbows on his knees, thinking. "Will you treat him better from now on? Or it´s just another of your mind games? Because if it is..." He left the implied threat hang on the air.

Sam laid down his head. "No, Professor. It´s not a game. I will treat my son the best1 I can. I have done too much harm already." It seemed Fujutsuki was the rarely heard conscience of Gendo Ikari. "And what about Ayanami? Will you keep her living in that dump? I know she´s important for your Escenario, but she´s too isolated, and in a dangerous demolition zone."

Sam thought for a moment. "No, I think it will be better to relocate her. Check if there are available apartments near Captain Katsuragi´s. It would be good for Shinji to have a neighbour his age, dont you think?" Fujutsuki´s face was quite interesting, like a man who had failed to disarm a bomb, only to find it only contains confetti instead of explosives.

"I will. I think there are several empty apartments at the same building. I think the good captain mentioned it."

" That would be perfect. By the way, I promised Shinji a decent pay, could you check with the accountants what would be a reasonable amount? And assign the same amount to Rei and the Second Child, when she arrives. Ah, and both Shinji and Rei deserve a danger bonus."

"...Sure. But you will have to get stricter, or SEELE will think you´re getting soft."

SEELE, he had almost forgotten about them. He would have to check with Ziggy later. He needed to know more about them.

"Let´s just say it´s a bit more manipulation. A nice little reward for the rookie pilot who won his first battle without any training. Everything else, let´s keep it between us."

"Speaking of that, Dr. Akagi is amazed. Shinji got an initial synchronization of a bit over 50%! For 7 seconds, he got all the way up to 58%."

Sam decided to play the villain a bit more. "Good. Then, we have to find just exactly how high he can get with an effective training. How long will it take for his school transfer to be finished?"

"About a week, why?" Fujutsuki asked, knowing the answer already.

"Tell Dr. Akagi to ready a basic training course for Shinji; I want him ready for the next fight."

"Understood. You will be released at noon, right? I´ll send you a couple of Section 2 agents to get you back home. Do you need anything? I hope you won´t be eating instant soup."

"Maybe I´ll order something to go."

Xxxx

Gendo Ikari´s apartment was just as oppresive as his office, there was not a single personal object on sight, not even a picture. Only open spaces, with utilitarian furniture. It actually looked like a picture form a catalog. No, those tried to make it look like somebody lived there. It was more like an architectural maquette. Well... at least it was easy to move around on a wheelchair...

After dimissing the Section 2 agents, knowing they would be a phone call away in case he needed something, Sam went back to his talk with Ziggy. He needed to know everything about SEELE, or he would end up head first in a trap, without even realizing it.

Ziggy played several conferences Gendo had had with SEELE in the last months, and Sam had to adjust his opinion of Gendo Ikari. Compared with the SEELE members, Ikari was the Sorcerer´s Apprentice. They were powerful, merciless, and callous. They played with people´s lifes on a scale Sam didn´t even had thought possible, out of a movie at least.

They had to be stopped. Period.

xxxx

"OK, we have to celebrate tonight." Said Misato, happily, knocking Shinji out from his train of thought.

"Why is that?"

"Let´s celebrate I have a new room-mate. A total Casanova!"

Shinji waved his hands in frenzy."No! No! It´s nothing like th-that!"

Misato wouldn´t let him go that easy. "No? If you had had a ring at hand, Rei would be the blushing Mrs. Ikari right now! Or maybe you would be Mr. Ayanami. I have no preference; you blush nicely too."

"I-I barely know her!" Shinji lowered his head. "It´s j-just... I worry about her... That´s all..." He sighed.

Misato decided to stop teasing him for a while. She drove in silence for a few minutes. They stopped at a mini-store to get some stuff. Around them they heard people talking. They were either excited or scared. Some were excited to have a giant robot protecting the city, while othere were scared of having a giant robot protecting the city. Misato filled the cart with instant meals and an amazing amount of beer cans.

Before going to the apartment, Misato took the panoramic route and stopped at a lookout. Shinji was surprised by the low cityscape. Misato looked intently at her watch. "Pay attention. Now."

Sirens howled, and from the ground, buildings grew like fungi after the rain. "The city is a fortress to face the Angels attacks." Said Misato, reverently. "This is Tokyo-3... Our city. The city you saved. Be proud of that."

They stood there, in silence, for a few minutes, before going home.

xxxx

Shinji´s few personal possesions had been delivered earlier. Just three simple cardboard boxes. His chello was somewhere in Tokyo-2. Due to a mistake from the delivery company. At least that was written on a note, taped to the topmost box. They would deliver it next day. Sorry about that.

Misato opened the door. "Uh... As you can see, the place is a bit messy."

Shinji was shocked by the disorder and the amount of trash Misato had been able to accumulate. And to think she had just moved in. ...No, it wasn´t even possible. He started to get the food into the fridge. ´More beer! Maybe I should have accepted the apartment in the Geo-Front´ He thought. ´It wouldn´t even surprise me if the other fridge is also full of b... Wait a minute... Another fridge?´

The rest of the evening still had some suprises on reserve for him. For starters, there was another room-mate in the apartment, someone who slept in the smaller fridge. After picking up part of the mess on the table, they sat to eat. Instant meals, of course. Shinji played with the contents of his plate, while Misato drank a can of beer in one go. After her celebratory scream; Misato noticed the still full plate on Shinji´s side. "Are you picky?"

Fleeing from the unexpected invasion of his personal space, Shinji shrank on his seat, stuttering.

"What will your girlfriend say?" Misato was back on Teasing Mode.

In Shinji´s mind, a thought made itself known. "...Oh, boy..."

xxxx

By the time, Ritsuko Akagi noticed, the clock had ticked 2:47 am. Too late to pay Gendo a visit. "Bah! I´ll have to sleep on my office couch. ... Again..."


	6. New Faces, New Places, Part Three

_**New Faces, New Places, Part Three**_

Checking the drawers of all the furniture in the house had not been easy, moving on a wheelchair meant he frequently misjudged his movements, hitting his foot. The pain made him see the stars several times. However, eventually his search had yielded results. A box under the bed in what he guessed was a spare bedroom had yielded the only objects of a personal nature in the whole apartment.

The reason Gendo Ikari had hidden those pictures, jewelry and knick-knacks in a place nobody ever entered was a matter of especulation. However, although few in number, those mementos gave him a measure of understanding NERV´s Commander.

In most pictures, there was a young woman, a bit thin, beautiful, with a page haircut, her features reminded him of Rei Ayanami. She could be her mother or aunt. In a few pictures, there was Professor Fujutsuki, with darker hair, alongside a smiling Gendo Ikari. A picture, the only one on a frame, showed Ikari himself, with the young woman, and a boy about two years old, holding a still wrapped present. On the back, with precise and delicate handwriting, it said "Shinji´s Birthday, June the 6th, 2003". It seemed like some time past, Ikari had been a normal family man. What could have happened to him to become the cold manipulator he had leaped to?

He set that picture aside. Surely later, Ziggy would tell him some cold details about that family. Names, dates, places. But no emotions. At leas he would have some basis to behave.

He kept looking. The closet contained a guitar case. And yes, it had a guitar inside. After the stress of the last two days, he needed to relax a bit. He took some minutes to tune the guitar, but trying to play on the wheelchair was unconfortable, so he got on the bed. A few bars came to his memory, and he began to play, from the laptop, Ziggy´s voice asked, "Dr. Beckett, if I may do a request, could you play ´Fly Me to the Moon´?"

"Sure, just let me remember the tune." His fingers stopped over the strings. "Ziggy? Is there any particular reason to ask that song?"

"Yes, Dr. Beckett; it was Yui Ikari´s favorite song. And mine too."

Sam shrugged. Certainly, Ziggy was more than an Artifitial Inteligence now. He started to play. Ziggy joined her voice to the melody, singing with her perfect voice.

Xxxx

Meanwhile, Shinji´s evening had complicated. A bit. Misato insisted on using a contest of Stone/Scissors/Paper to determine who would do the chores and when. After losing several times on a row, Shinji realized that Misato was diabolically good at this game, so he proposed a deal. He would take take of the meals on weekdays, and would aternate the cleaning of the place. Each one would wash their own clothes. At least that way he would not risk to become an accidental mummy because of the preservers on the instant meals..

Bath time was even more awkward. Aside Misato´s underwear, left hanging to dry right on sight; the appearance of their other room-mate made Shinji run away from the bathroom, scared and naked, to Misato´s great fun and Shinji´s embarrasment.

Eventually, Shinji got the chance to use the bathtub. He almost never could actually relax in one. He always felt surrounded by bad memories; mostly about his father´s abandonement. But this time he was remembering the whole previous day; with conflicting emotions. He finally felt better about himself. Father had actually trated him with a measure of respect; almost as if he was a different person. And helping Ayanami to endure her stay at the hospital made his heart soar. He wondered if he would be able to visit her tomorrow. Although he was afraid Misato would be teasing him all day long.

Anyway, he was really tired.

Sliding the door to his room, he noticed a simple sign hanging from the door. It read "Shinji´s Lovely Suite", with Misato´s handwriting. He smiled.

He opened one of his boxes, and stored his clothes in the small closet. Tomorrow would be a full day.

As he lay down on his bed, he rememberd something strange. While he was trying to call NERV, he had seen somebody at the other side of the street. Aparently, the only other person in the village. A young slender woman, with brown hair cut page style, and for some reason, she had a labcoat on. Curiously, she looked familiar, her features were quite close to Ayanami´s.

He got distrated, and he lost her. Actually, she had disappeared.

Right then, he fell asleep.

Xxxx

At the Geo-Front´s Hospital, Rei Ayanami had turned off Shinji´s SDAT. Except during the visits of doctors and nurses, she had been listening to music all the time. Studying it almost obssessively. Structure, rythm, tome; each sound, alone and in harmony to the others.

Shinji was right, the music had distracted her from the pain. She felt so much better. Before finally falling asleep, she thought. "I hope to talk about this with Pilot Ikari. Tomorrow would be good."

xxxx

 _ **Next Day**_

Sam knew he had a long day in store. It wasn´t easy to sleep with a foot in a cast, but he managed. After dressing himself, he called the agent to order some breakfast. He took the chance to practice his impression of Gendo Ikari, copying his body language from Ziggy´s recordings.

While he was wondering how to wash the dishes, Dr. Akagi entered, laptop in hand and with a suitcase full of printed sheets. "I just can´t understand it, Commander, "she said, covering the table with the prints, and gesturing the agento to take away the dishes, Sam snatched the last piece of toast with jam. "It is absolutely impossible that Unit-01 could move by itself."

Sam nodded, long experience had taught him that usually, it was best to let people talk. Ritsuko continued, drinking his coffe, Sam just let her. "Without a pilot, the best it should be able to do is to fall down, and it didn´t even had a charge in it´s internal batteries." She poured herself more coffe, adding too many spoonfuls of sugar. "All the readings show an inert state. And still, it had enough strenght and coordination to break it´s moorings and cover Shinji."

Sometimes, it was best to dwell on the obvious. "Something happened, something we don´t understand, Dr. Akagi. It might be possible the Evangelions still keep some secrets from us."

Ritsuko huffed, blowing away a lock of hair from her forehead. "Like what? That when nobody´s looking they recite poetry to each other?" The scientist held up a hand and rubbed her left temple with the other. "Sorry, I worked until 3:00 am, and only got four hours of sleep on my office couch."

"Go home, Dr. Akagi. You need to sleep." He stopped cold the oncoming objection. "That´s an order."

Ritsuko smiled, checking that the agent was nowhere in sight, and whispered "Yes, sir."

Xxxx

Back in Misato´s apartment, Shinji was busy preparing breakfast. He would have prefered something more complicated, but in Misato´s pantry was a serious deficit of fresh ingredients. At the end, he prepared a simple omelette, with a few spices and herbs.

"Mmm! That smells delicious!" Misato exclaimed entering the kitchedn. "You´re very versatile, Shinji. I wasn´t expecting this." She got a beer from the fridge, and emptied without any pause.

Before she could let out her usual scream of pleasure, Shinji raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Beer on an empty stomach, Misato?"

"Knock it off!" Misato pouted. But her face changed once Shinji put her plate on the table.

Shinji sighed; this woman was quite a mental case. "Er, Misato? My transfer..? How long will it take?"

Between enthusiastic bites of her omelette, Misato answered. "It will be ready next Monday, so you have the rest of this week free. Well, apart from practice and some studies at NERV." Seeing Shinji´s look, she went back on Teasing Mode. "Ah, I see! You wanna go see Rei, Right?"

Shijo rolled his eyes, Misato was like a bear-trap. She just wouldn´t let it go. Anyway, it would be useless to deny it. "Yes, I´ve been in a hospital before. The worst was just how boring it was. Yesterday, I only had a tape with me, the others were with my stuff. I want to check on her and leave her the rest of the tapes."

Shinji´s sincerity surprised Misato; from her own experience, she knew the kid was right. "Ok, Shinji." She started to count with her fingers-"First, I have to introduce you to the technical support staff; you already know Dr. Akagi, but you need to know the bridge bunnies on Central Dogma. Your life depends on them, so treat them with respect. Next, medical tests, and measuring for your plugsuit. As you know, LCL is hell to get off your clothes and hair. Later, if Dr. Akagi approves, you´ll get a chance to use the simulator. That´s the exciting part! And in the afternoon, after we have taken care of everything else, I´ll take you to see Ayanami. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Xxxx

At school, Shinji´s papers were being processed. The principal asigned him a place on group 2-A. He made a call on the school P.A. system. "Miss Hikari Horaki, please come to the principal´s office."

A few minutes later, a brown haired, freckled girl knocked softly at his door. "Yes, Principal?"

"Miss horaki, next Monday a new student will be transferred to your group. Be so kind to get him these prints, and this week´s assignements. Here´s his address." Ha gave her a folder full of print-outs, and a card.

"Certainly, Sir."

Xxxx

Once the last class had ended, and after the usual "Stand! Bow!" routine, Hikari chose a couple of students who had been goofing off during History class. "Aida! Suzuhara! Come here right now!"

Both stood up as if they had been whipped. Both thought simultaneously. "What did we do this time?"

The taller of the duo, a boy who somehow managed to always be attired with a tracksuit, despite regulations; recovered quickly, and asked with feigned apathy, "What´s going on now, Class Rep?"

"I want you both to go to this address!" Hikari almost yelled at them. "Ask for Shinji Ikari, and give him these print-outs and the week-s assignements. He´s being transfered here next week."

"Ok, ok. You don´t have to yell, you know?" the other answered, a short boy, with thick glasses and a mop of eternally rebelious hair, taking the papers.

Hikari left before they noticed her blush.

Xxxx

Toji and Kensuke gave up after their fifth ring at the apartment labeled "M. Katsuragi". It seemed there was no one home.

"What a waste of time, Kensuke." Said Toji, exiting the elevator at the ground floor.

"Sure it was, man. And there´s not even a mail-box. Hikari wil be mad at us. Madder."

As they walked towards the door, a couple was entering. A young woman, with an spectacular and tight black drees and a red jacket, she had a red beret on her head. After her, a skinny boy, loaded with packages. They were arguing.

Both friends´ eyes were glued to the woman. Actually, their brains had to reload language routines.

"Wow! Did you see that goddess, Toji?" whispered an astonished Kensuke.

"Did I see her, man! Dude, that was what I was talking about the other day. I wonder who she is..."

They walked on, each telling the other about what they liked best on a woman, and arguing about how many points the woman deserved on each cathegory.

Meanwhile, the couple had entered the elevator, still arguing. They heard a plaintive "But Misato, don´t you think..." as the doors closed.

"Her name is Misato!" both exclaimed, and walked three steps more before stopping simultaneously, they looked at each other. Toji exclaimed "M. Katsuragi!" and then Kensuke added "That kid is about our age!"

They ran back to the elevator.

xxxx

"Doctor Beckett, it´s time to call the hospital and ask about Rei Ayanami´s health. Commander Ikari has been very insistant about it."

"Thanks, Ziggy, do I ask the nurse for a report, or ask for someone to get her the phone?"

"Both. Ikari insist on watching Ayanami´s health, as she is an integral part of his plans."

The nurses reported good progress, even better than expected.

"Good, patch the call to her room. I´ll wait."

He didn´t had to wait for long. A voice, too serious for a fourteen years old girl, answered, "Commander?"

"Hello, Rei. I´m calling to check on you and see if you need something.

"I´m fine, Sir. I don´t need anything. The personal staff is taking care of everything."

"Perfect. I have news for you. You will be assigned new quarters, possibly in the same building Captain Katsuragi lives at. It´s a better neighbourhood, and closest to the school. Do you prefer to take care of the moving, or have someone pack your things while you recover?"

Rei had very few things, her books and school stuff, eight sets of school uniforms, three pairs of shoes, all of the same exact model, and her underwear. Nothing irreplaceable or even significant, except for...

"I´ll take care of it. I just need the address, a couple of boxes, and a transport. I´ll do the packing myself."

"Good, I´ll send you the address the day of your release. I´m... well, I had a little accident and broke a foot. Nothing serious, but I won´t be able to visit you for a while." Sam wasn´t willing to mention Sachiel´s attack, unless it was absolutely neccesary.

"Understood. Sir? Captain Katsuragi and the new pilot came to visit me. It was... nice. Can they keep on visiting me?" Despite her even tone, Sam recognized Rei´s pleading.

"Of course, as long it doesn´t interfere with your recovery."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Get well son, Rei. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Sir."

Sam closed the phone. "How did I do it?"

"It was satisfactory, Dr. Beckett. You still have some work to do with inflexion, but the words were very close to Gendo Ikari´s speech patterns. Your body language has improved too. But you still have to improve some more before facing SEELE."

xxxx

Rei signalled the nurse to end the call. She still couldn´t hold the device. Without anything else to do in the room, the nurse excused herself with a bow, and closed the door.

Rei went back to her waiting.

She pressed a button on the SDAT.


	7. Changing Course, Part One

_**Changing Course, Part One**_

After delibering the print-outs, Toji and Kensuke stayed a few minutes more at Misato´s apartment. Torn between talking to their new classmate, and trying to ogle surrepticiously at Captain Katsuragi (rank that almost melted the military otaku´s brain), they were somewhat distracted.

Shinji had to ask again. "Hey, guys, do you know someplace I could get a CD Player at a low price? I don´t care much if it´s not new, just that it´s in good working order."

Toji shrugged, but Kensuke brightened immediately. Any chance to do bussiness was a good thing in his book. "Mmm? Ah, yes, sure. I have one my cousin left at home a few months ago, along with his CD collection. He changed format, and he said he would not need them anymore."

"Great!"

They haggled a bit until they agreed on a price. "I´ll bring it tomorrow, about this time, OK? And I´ll throw the CDs in. I don´t use them. But, I must warn you, my cousin´s tastes are a bit bizarre. Most of his collection is imported, and he had a few really unusual albums."

"Like what?" Toji was a bit curious.

"Well... Some really obscure musicians and bands. I think he even bought a few directly from them at bars or clubs. Stuff like that. Actually, I only heard two or three CDs."

"Hmm... Actually, I don´t know what kind of music she likes."

Both kids looked at Misato´s door. Shinji added. "It´s not for her. A friend of mine is at the hospital, they are for her. She´s recovering, but has nothing to distract herself while they release her."

His classmates looked at each other. "Is she pretty?"

"Um... yes..."

"What´s her name?"

"Ayanami, Rei Ayanami."

Toji could not believe his ears. "Wait... Kinda weird girl, skinny, very pale, blue hair, red eyes, and talks like a robot?"

"Well, yes, do you know her?"

"Man! She´s in our class! She´s the weirdest girl we´ve ever met. She never talks to anybody, she´s always alone. And she´s your friend? How long have you known her?"

"Well, about two days." Without much detail, Shinji explained they had struck a friendship at the hospital.

"No wonder she has not been at the school all week... Hey, Shinji, if you have the chance, could you give her some print-outs and homework? About the same stuff we brought you."

"I don´t think she´s in any shape to do homework, but I´ll ask her."

Both nodded enthusiastically. Both were thinking the same ´If we get her print-outs to Ayanami, Hikari won´t yell at us.´

"OK, I´ll ask her. Right now we are going to the hospital, we just stopped to drop some things."

Right then, Misato came back. She had changed clothes, now she wore a different black dress, a bit longer at the hem. "OK, boys, time to go."

* * *

"Pilot Ayanami, you have visitors." A nurse opened the door, she turned to Misato and Shinji. "Only ten minutes, please." She bowed, and went back out.

Rei looked at them; as expected, it was Captain Katsuragi and Shinji Ikari. The boy´s color was closer to normal. He had a plastic bag with him. He bowed. "Hello, Ayanami, how are you?" Misato waved "Hello, Rei!"

"i'm healing as expected. I thank you for the loan of your player. It was... entertaining. I have a question."

"Em... It was nothing. I´m glad you liked it. What do you want to know?"

"I´ve noticed that the rythm in tracks three, six, nine, fifteen and twenty-two is much faster than the others. My toes tend to move in synch with them. Why?"

Shinji took a few seconds to think, while Rei waited paciently. "Well, it´s like a... It´s called following the beat. When you like the music, you follow the beat. Some people taps their feet, others their fingers, or bob their heads."

"I see. So it´s a common thing."

"Yes." Both were silent for a while. To Shinji, a pause in conversation was very awkward, so he changed subject. "I have more tapes, other genres or musicians." Carefully, he took the SDAT from Rei´s fingers, and changed cassette. "The tape I left you yesterday was Mozart; this one if Beethoven"

He pushed Play, and a piano was heard. "This is ´Fur Elise´." Rei closed hey eyes, and began analyzing the melody´s structure. "It´s beautiful..." Shinji nodded.

Misato sat at the visitor´s chair. Later, she would mercilessly tease Shinji; but right now, she was amazed at the boy´s compassion.

Once the music finished, Shinji stopped the SDAT. "I think it´s time to change the batteries." While Rei watched intently, he replaced the batteries.

"Um, Rei? Two classmates of ours wanted to know if they can send you some print-outs and homework. I told them it might be too early, but I´d ask you anyway."

"Not yet. Maybe next week. I´ll be able to catch up then."

"O-okay." Another awkward silence. "Um... I´ll come back tomorrow with another tape."

"That would be agreeable." Shinji smiled.

The visit ended a few minutes later.

* * *

Down at NERV´s holochamber, Sam Beckett was checking the recordings of Unit-00´s incident.

"OK, Ziggy. This time I want to see the scene from the cage; I want Unit-00´s image to be about my height, the rest of the chamber at the same scale."

"Preparing Image, Dr. Beckett. 3, 2, 1, now."

Sam moved aside, turning the chair´s wheels. The sound recordings from the activation test began to roll.

"Power source, connected." Lieutenant Ibuki´s voice. "Starting system activation."

"Activation voltage, nearing critical level, zero five, zero two, rising."

"Start Activation Phase Two." Dr. Akagi.

"Fast forward, Ziggy, until five seconds before it went out of control, please."

The image jumped a bit. The EVA looked the same, but Sam saw a little change in the occupants of the Observation Room.

"List satisfactory until two thousand five hundred and fifty." Ibuki again.

"Activate Third Phase connection." Akagi.

Slowly, Unit-010´s head rose, its only eye looking to the observation deck. A tiny Gendo Ikari watched the titan, barely moving; behind him, Doctor Akagi and Sub-Commander Fujutsuki; and behind them, the tech staff continued the activation process.

"Beginning countdown to Absolute Frontier. Zero seven, zero six, zero five, zero four, zero three... Pulses flowing backwards!"

The EVA struggled against its bindings, trying to free itself.

"There´s something wrong with the Third Phase!" Aoba. "There´s rejection at the central nervous elements!"

"Break contact. Close bond circuits one to six." Akagi.

"Negative. It won´t accept the signal!" Ibuki.

A deep growl came from Unit-00´s throat. It sounded like a grizzly trying to escape a bear-trap. Its muscles tensed under the armor. It was exerting so much force that the bindings that held it bent until they broke free from the walls. The left arm binding crashed to the floor.

"Unit-00 is out of control!" Ibuki

The EVA held its head with its free hand. To Sam, it looked like a man suffering the worst migraine imaginable. The roar that came next was full of pain.

"Abort the experiment." Finally, Ikari spoke, just like nothing unusual was happening. "You have to stop it."

The umbilical cable fell from its socket, a few meters before it impacted the floor, several jets at the head slowed its fall. After watching the scene several times from the inside of the observation deck, Sam knew Doctor Akagi had used the emergency break, cutting the external power to the Evangelion.

At this point, the EVA was completely free, still holding its head with its left hand.

"Unit-00 is using it´s internal battery. It will stop in thirty five seconds." Aoba.

With amazing speed for such a colossal creature, the EVA´s right fist stroke the window, cracking the armored glass, and deeply denting the metal holding it. Gendo Ikari didn´t move at all, not even after three punches more.

At the fourth punch, the armored glass finally broke, turning into shards before Ikari´s eyes.

"Rogue Unit! Stay away!" Akagi, clearly alarmed.

Behind its helmet, the Evangelion roared, holding its head. It seemed to stumble. At its back, a plate blew off, and behind it, the plug was ejected, with Rei Ayanami still inside.

"The escape system was activated!" Ibuki.

"NO!" Ikari yelled, seeing the plug hit the ceiling, propelled by four rockets. The system had been designed to get the pilot as far as possible from a combat, not to be expulsed in an enclosed place. The plug slid along the ceiling, until it crashed against the walls; and from there, to a corner, where it moved like a leaf in a tornado, throwing Rei from one side of the plug to the other.

"Bakelite supression system! NOW!" Akagi´s voice drowned Ibuki´s, still counting down to the EVA´s desactivation.

"Nine, eight," right then, the plug´s fuel reserves were empty. The plug fell to the floor, from a height close to 100m. Sam almost frowned, knowing the lesions Rei had suffered, he was sure a mere human would have died. Even with the LCL absorbing most of the shock.

He made a mental note to install safety harnesses in all the plugs.

"REI!" Ikari.

"Seven, six." Ibuki

The plug bounced on the floor.

"Five, four." Several panels slid open, and from the walls, thick jets of red liquid; covering the colossus feet.

"Three, two." The Evangelion battered the walls with its head, while the bakelite covered its legs.

The giant powered down, still as a statue.

"Enough, Ziggy."

The image stopped, as Gendo Ikari had run into the chamber-

Sam had some trouble moving around the holochamber, watching everthing intently.

"Ziggy, Can you simulate Rei´s point of view? Add a marker for her visual focus, I want to see exactly the same as her."

The scene played once more, a red point maked Rei´s POV.

Sam sat back on his wheelchair. Without realizing, he steepled his finders on front of his face, mimicking Commander Ikari´s pose.

"Rei didn´t do anything. What happened?"

"Unknown, Doctor Beckett. I can´t find any data in the archive to form any hypothesis."

"I wonder what would Al suggest. ...Probably something strange, like..."

"Doctor Beckett?"

"Ziggy, restart the scene once more, at half-speed; track the EVA-00's POV. Give me an aditional marker next to it. I want to see the precise moment it gets out of control."

This time, Sam found the answer. The activation had been normal, until EVA-00 had noticed Dr. Akagi´s presence.

Akagi was BEHIND Ikari. The Evangelion was trying to kill HER.

He produced a little notebook. ¨ _Effective Immediately, Dr. Akagi is forbidden from being present during EVA-00´s activation tests.¨_ and, oh, yes, " _Add safety harnessess in all plugs available._ "

Carefully, he shut down the holographic systems and went back out.

* * *

"How am I supposed to do my job, then?"

"Dr. Akagi, I have checked the recordings from the EVA-00 test; and I have good reason to believe you triggered the event."

"What? I wasn´t even near the controls!"

"I know. I´m not accussing you of anything. For some reason, Unit-00 wants to kill you. For your own safety, I forbid you to be present during any activation test involving Unit-00. Just a precaution, I don´t doubt your dedication nor capability as Chief of Project-E."

Ritsuko was silent for a few seconds, Commander Ikari was not an easy person to "read", but she felt a genuine worry in his voice.

"OK, I´ll have to direct the operation remotely, or train Lieutenant Ibuki to take my place."

"Agreed. I don´t want you any place near Unit-00 if it has another episode. I also want to keep the pilots from getting hurt like Rei did, the plugs need safety harnessess."

"I will start the modifications at once"

"Dr. Akagi, do we have enough spare parts to upgrade Unit-00? As Sachiel caused minimal damages to the city, we have enough money for that. While Rei is incapacitated to pilot, we could take the chance to upgrade her EVA. Of course, we have to add a remote kill switch to its power reserves. That way we will be able to stop any similar incidents."

Ritsuko stared at him. "Yes, of course. We can use some spare parts for Unit-01 while we get the next shipment. I only hope there will be no Angel attacks in the meanwhile."

Sam took the shades off, and rubbed his temples. "So do I, Ritsuko, so do I..."


End file.
